In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, toner is provided to an electrostatic latent image formed on an image receiving medium, to form a visible toner image. The toner image is transferred from the image receiving medium to sheet of paper, which transferred toner image is then fused onto the sheet of paper. The toner is manufactured by adding various functional additives, including, for example, a coloring agent, to base resin. In the fusing process, toner is permanently fused onto a printing medium such as, for example, sheet of paper, mainly by the application of heat and pressure. A considerable portion of energy used in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is consumed during the fusing process.
Conventially, a fusing device employs a fixing nip formed between a heating belt that generates heat and a pressing roller, or between a heating roller and a pressing roller engaged with each other. While the paper, to which the toner is transferred, passes through the fixing nip, heat and pressure are applied to the toner. The heat may be generated by heating a heating belt or a heating roller with a radiant heat source such as, for example, a halogen lamp, disposed in the fusing device, locally by attaching a resistive heating member such as, for example, a ceramic heater adhered near the fixing nip, or on the entire surface of a heating belt or heating roller by forming a resistive heating member on the surface of the heating belt or the heating roller.